FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY

Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance

Business Administration Department

POTATO CORNER

A International Business Paper

Presented to
the Faculty of Business Administration Department
Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance
Far Eastern University – Manila

In Partial Fulfilment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration

By
Barce, Ken
Jastillana, Danessa
Guevarra, Matthew
Rebatis, McLand
Tan. Paolo

29 March 2019
 FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY
Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance
Business Administration Department
 FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY
Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance
Business Administration Department

I. INTRODUCTION
Ireland is an island located in the North Atlantic. It is the second-largest
island in the British Isles, third-largest in Europe and twentieth-largest on Earth.
It’s separated from Great Britain to its east by North Channel, St. George’s
Channel and the Irish Sea. Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland and
the Northern Island which are both parts of the United Kingdom. It has an area of
70,273 square kilometers. The Republic of Ireland covers almost 5/6 of the island
and the rest is for the Northern Ireland. Ireland’s population density comes in at
mostly 68 people per square kilometer. The country’s largest city is Dublin, which
is also the capital city of Ireland. It was originally founded as part of a Viking
settlement, making it the nation’s capital city after the Normans evaded the city
and county of Ireland. For more than 9000 years, the country of Ireland has been
inhabited by different groups like the Riata, Laigin and the Cruthin and for over
the last 1200 years it has been inhabited by the Vikings, Normans, Welsh, Scots,
English, Eastern Europeans, Africans, and South Americans. 84% of the
country’s population are Catholics, particularly the Roman Catholics. There are
also Muslims and Jewish the country and about 4% of the country’s population
has no religion. The Republic of Ireland just received their independence from
the Great Britain just this 20th century.

II. THE COUNTRY’S ENVIRONMENT

a) Socio-Cultural

Location: Western Europe, occupying five-sixths of the island of Ireland in the

North Atlantic Ocean, west of Great Britain
Capital: Dublin
Climate: temperate maritime; modified by North Atlantic Current; mild winters,
cool summers; consistently humid; overcast about half the time
Population: 4.8 million (est. 2019)
Ethnic Make-up: Irish 87.4%, other white 7.5%, Asian 1.3%, black 1.1%, mixed
1.1%, unspecified 1.6% (2006 census)
Religions: Roman Catholic 87.4%, Church of Ireland 2.9%, other Christian 1.9%,
other 2.1%, unspecified 1.5%, none 4.2% (2006 census)
Government: republic, parliamentary democracy

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 FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY
Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance
Business Administration Department

Language in Ireland
Irish (Gaelic or Irish Gaelic) is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European
language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish.
Irish is now spoken natively by a small minority of the Irish population – mostly in
Gaeltacht areas – but also plays an important symbolic role in the life of the Irish
state.
It enjoys constitutional status as the national and first official language of
the Republic of Ireland and it is an official language of the European Union.

Irish Society and Culture

The Catholic Church
Most people in the country are Roman Catholic. Until the early 1990s the
church had a very strong voice in society as well as politics. Their role however
has diminished. There is now something of a generational divide with people
over 50 still being quite observant and conservative in their views. Religion still
very much has a say in society’s view of family, marriage, and abortion.

The Family
The extended family is still very much the dominant social structure
although urbanisation is having an impact. Even when family members do move
to the cities you will often find their ties to “home” are still very strong.

Humour
The Irish have a reputation for their wit and humour – which they call
having ‘the craic’ [pronounced crack]. As well as quick tongued with jokes they
also make eloquent and witty speakers. They pride themselves on being able to
find humour and it is often self-deprecating or ironic.
It is common for the Irish to trade insults and tease one another (called
“slagging”) with people to whom they are close. If you are teased, it is important
to take it well and not see it as personal. They have a rich history in storytelling
which was used to pass information down through the generations (poems and
songs also served the same purpose).

b) Technological

1. Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already having a major impact on the way that
many Irish businesses are enaging with customers and is taking a much more
central role right now, moving far beyond being simply a back-end tool.

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 FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY
Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance
Business Administration Department

AI has come to be seen as an important technology for leveraging big data

and has become a very real tool for those who recognize its power to solve the
next set of business challenges presented by huge volumes of data. It is set to
totally accelerate the pace of middle and back office modernisation.
“Between 2017 and 2020, a new generation of leaders will separate from
the pack by injecting AI and its sub-components (e.g. machine learning, neural
networks, decision theory etc) in to the algorithms that produce actuarial models
and premium quotes”; states a report from The Work Ahead Series.
The research series, commissioned by Cognizant, with Roubini Global
Economics, is part of a global study in to understanding the changing nature of
work and what constitutes success in the digital age across the sectors, from
healthcare to business and financial services and from insurance to
manufacturing, logistics and retail.

2. Collaboration technologies
Technology-enabled collaborative work systems, whether formal or
informal are coming to the fore more and more in Irish companies. Companies
that need their workforces to perform faster, more intelligently and more
productively are now recognising the need to embed collaborative technologies
deeply within their core processes.
Incentivizing behaviours that are collaborative is another key to success.
This focus on teamwork with the use of the many collaboration technologies
available now such as Yammer, Chatter, AnswerHub and Jive can really help
employees to communicate better and share knowledge leading to better results
and faster workflow.

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 FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY
Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance
Business Administration Department

3. Telepresence devices
After a slow start, digital and connective technologies are beginning to
revolutionise healthcare in Ireland, despite funding issues. From opportunities
ranging from electronic health records, to wearable devices, mobile healthcare,
big data, genomics and robotics technologies, the landscape is radically
changing.
The ‘doctor and the bot’ is at our doorstep. Tallaght Hospital in Dublin was
the first healthcare institution in Ireland to trial a ‘remote doctor’ system in 2016.
A telepresence robot named ‘Lucy’ enables doctors to visit patients at their
bedsides remotely and the system involves a tablet computer secured to an
extendable pole sitting on top of a self-balancing electric wheel.
According to the Mayo Clinic, innovative robotic surgery techniques “allow
doctors to perform many types of complex procedures with more precision,
flexibility and control than is possible with conventional techniques”

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 FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY
Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance
Business Administration Department

4. Digital currency
As one of the fastest growing economies in the European Union, Ireland
has the opportunity to embrace digital currency. Ireland’s first bitcoin ATM
opened for business in Dublin city centre in 2014 and there are many new
offerings such as Zcash now available. Dublin start-up Circle was backed by
$76m in venture capital investment for the development of digital currency
technology.
“In retail there is a major difference in the mindset of digital leaders and
digital laggards in the efficacy of digital. But it is the leaders who will come out on
top. It waits for no retailer’s budget cycles”, according to ‘The Work Ahead’.

5. Internet of Things/Sensors
The value globally of the IoT sector is predicted to be greater than
$34.2bn by 2020 and it’s expected that 4.9bn devices will be connected in 2015
and this will again increase massively to 25bn by 2025.
This intersection between the virtual world and physical world is already
well embedded in Ireland with consumers. Innovations are already coming
through in the many digital incubators and accelerators located across the
country, in addition to the key formal and informal partnerships between the
technology sector and educational institutions.
By 2025, sensors and Internet of Things (IoT) stand as the pre-eminent
digital technologies affecting the manufacturing sector. “By then, in
manufacturing, we’ll likely see the instrumentation of every product and more
smart products means more data.”
“Add to that a variety of autonomous and semi-autonomous systems, from
3-D printing to sensors and robots, converging to become an integral part of
enterprise business architecture,” according to The Work Ahead.

6. Software bots
A software bot, internet bot or web robot is a software application that can
run automated tasks across the internet, performing actions that are structurally
repetitive and simple, at a much faster rate than any human alone has the
capacity for.
From having conversations with customers to automating tasks such as
order delivery or hotel bookings, software bots can greatly simplify dealings with
Irish and global businesses. They have the capacity to ease interactions between
customers and businesses and help with economies of scale and revenue.
“So-called robotic process automation – in which software tools have
emerged as the ‘robots’ for knowledge work – has been gaining traction.

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 FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY
Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance
Business Administration Department

What about physical tasks? In our study, 94% of providers believe that physical
work robots will have a moderate to strong impact on work”, it is revealed in The
Work Ahead.

7. Sharing economy platforms

‘Collaborative consumption’ or the sharing economy, has already been
pioneered by companies such as AirBnB, which has its international
headquarters in Dublin.
Shared economies, from peer-to-peer lending/crowdfunding to car
sharing, networking, marketplaces, online staffing and music and video
streaming services are all having an impact and growing daily across the country.
The shared economy platforms offer big opportunities for Irish businesses to
increase their customer bases and potentially reduce costs by either setting up
their own platforms to connect and enable people to share or to benefit from
existing platforms or communities.

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 FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY
Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance
Business Administration Department

Shared economies are already impacting within Irish companies who have
recognised the opportunities – from choosing peer-to-peer lending instead of
traditional financial institutions or sharing skills on an online platform for products
and services in exchange for something that a business needs.

8. Hardware robots
Robotics is becoming ever more apparent in Ireland. This branch of
engineering that involves the creation, design, manufacture and operation of
robots, overlaps many areas of Irish business from electronics, mechatronics,
computer science and nanotechnology to artificial intelligence and
bioengineering.
“We think the aforementioned impending skill gaps in manufacturing will drive
higher degrees of automation and adoption of the next wave of robotics. At the
same time, we expect that further automation adoption by manufacturers will
propel limited experiments with AI and robotics that are in line with projections on
the most critical skills shortages,” predicts The Work Ahead.

9. Telematics
Telematics - the sharing of information via a wireless network – is another
digital technology transforming Irish business. Everything in our lives is becoming
more and more connected.
An interdisciplinary field that encompasses telecommunications, road
transportation, vehicular technologies, road safety and electrical engineering and
computer science, telematics is already having a particular impact on car
insurance. The system allows the end user to collect data about vehicles being
monitored, giving insurers a better picture of the driver they are covering.
“Insurers are highly aware of the need to rethink their processes, technology
foundations and business models to succeed in the digital future. Indeed, the
industry itself will be nearly unrecognizable in the next decade due to digital
change”.

c) Economic / Business / Trade

AGRICULTURAL SECTOR
In 1998 about 3,326,000 acres or 19.5% of the total area is devoted to
growing crops. Growing Roots and green Crops and the balancing of pasture and
hay took up about 1.5%. The number 1 source of Irelands exports came from
livestock. The majority of the crops they grow are barley, 1,278,000 tons; sugar
beets, 1,712,000 tons; potatoes, 559,000 tons; wheat, 597,000 tons; and oats,
136,000 tons.

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 FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY
Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance
Business Administration Department

Over half of agricultural production, by value, is exported. The benefits of the

EU's Common Agricultural Policy, which provides secure markets and improved
prices for most major agricultural products, account in part for the increase of
Ireland's agricultural income from £314 million in 1972 (before Ireland's
accession) to £1,919.9 million in 1995.

INDUSTRIAL SECTOR
Foreign Players are in command of Irelands Industrial Sector. Big
companies like Apple, Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, Google, eBay, Pfizer, Cadbury-
Schweppes, Dell and Intel are the ones that makes the trade active in Ireland.
the industries are very focused on Cork and Dublin.
The main source of Irelands industry development comes from the computer
and pharmaceutical industries. Since they do not have many natural resources
Ireland relay in their Industrial sector for growth.

In the national economy Irelands industry sector has contributed 46% and
employed 27% of the work force. most service sector firms stem from the
industrial sector as well, cumulatively both sectors contribute more than 94% to
the employment scenario.

Food Industry
The agri-food and drink sector accounts for 7.6% of Irelands economy-
wide GVA, (DAFM, 2014) 10.7% of Ireland’s exports and 8.4% of total
employment. (DAFM, 2015) in 2016, Irish agri-food and drink exports increased
by an estimated 2% to approximately €11.15 bn (Bord Bia, 2017). The UK
was the main destination for Irish agri-food and drink exports in 2016
accounting for 37% of all exports. 32% of exports went to Continental EU
markets while the remaining 31% went to international markets.

COST OF LIVING

Safety
It is very safe in Ireland. Guns are illegal but there are those who
smuggle them but compared to the USA Ireland Gun Crime is near to non-
existent.
Healthcare
The Healthcare of Ireland is funded by the general government. IF
needed immediate attention there is a subsidized fee based on your age and
income. If it is a minor problem you will be part of a waiting list. There are also
Private Healthcare providers that you can pay for services like private rooms and
that does not have any waiting list

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 FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY
Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance
Business Administration Department

Working and doing business in Ireland

Ireland has a law that entitles dull time workers to have a 20-day leave
and employers will grant their long-term employees for additional vacation
leave.

d) Environment

PARTNERSHIP WITH TRADE & INDUSTRY

as of 2017 Ireland had a positive trade balance of $75.2B in net exports.

As compared to their trade balance in 1995 when they still had a positive trade
balance of $11.7B in net exports.

Current Partnership

1. Food and restaurant sector

The food industry is facing a market opportunity that is the envy of almost
every other business sector. The world’s population will grow by 1 billion in the
next 15 years. Food requirements are expected to grow by a phenomenal 50%
during that period.
In 1990, 40% of the world’s population lived in extreme poverty; that is on
track to fall to 15% or less next year. The global middle class is therefore growing
at a startling rate. Some 1.8 billion people can be described as middle-class
today. By 2020, that figure will be 3.2 billion. While global food requirements will
soar, more and more people will have the means to secure their food
requirements.
There is also an extraordinary rate of urbanisation. In 2009, for the first
time, we passed the point where over half of the world’s population lived in cities.
We are truly becoming a “city planet”. A very large proportion of these new
consumers will be living in geographically concentrated markets, with excellent
transport links, storage and retail facilities.
All of this offers huge opportunities for those in the food industry who are
capable of developing and scaling up to meet that demand.

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 FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY
Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance
Business Administration Department

e) Political

Constitutional framework
The Irish republic is a parliamentary democracy. Its constitution
was promulgated in 1937 and can be amended through a referendum. The
country’s head of state, the president (uachtarán), is elected directly by the public
for a term of seven years and is eligible for reelection for a second term. The
president normally acts on the advice of the government but also consults an
advisory Council of State in the exercise of certain functions. The president signs
and promulgates bills passed by the Oireachtas (Parliament) and, when so
advised by the prime minister(taoiseach), summons and dissolves the
Oireachtas. The president may, however, refuse to dissolve the Oireachtas on
the advice of a prime minister who has ceased to command a majority in the Dáil
Éireann (House of Representatives). The president is the guardian of the
constitution and may, in certain circumstances, submit a bill passed by the
Oireachtas to the people in a referendum or refer it to the Supreme Court to
decide on its constitutionality.
There are two houses of the Oireachtas—the Dáil and the Seanad
Éireann (Senate). Chief legislative power is centred in the 158-member Dáil. The
Seanad may delay bills passed by the Dáil, or it may suggest changes in them,
but it cannot indefinitely block their passage into law.
Executive power is vested in the prime minister, who heads the cabinet and
presides over its meetings. The prime minister, the deputy prime minister
(tánaiste), and the minister for finance must be members of the Dáil. The other
government ministers must be members of either house, but no more than two
may be senators.

Local government
The local government system comprises five county borough corporations,
five borough corporations in the major cities, and 29 county councils, as well as
numerous urban district councils and boards of town commissioners. Each of
these is elected at regular intervals by universal adult suffrage. Of the 29 county
councils, only 24 represent whole counties. For administrative purposes, the
traditional County Tipperary is divided into a North Riding and a South Riding,
each having a county council, and Dublin also is divided, among three county
councils (Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Fingal, and South Dublin). County councils
and county borough corporations are responsible for physical planning, roads,
sewerage and water supplies, housing, public libraries, fire services, and
courthouses. Local government authorities in the republic have no functions in
relation to police or education.

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 FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY
Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance
Business Administration Department

Important policy decisions (e.g., on local taxes, borrowing, and the making
of bylaws) are made by the elected councils. Administration, on the other hand, is
the responsibility of the county (or city) manager, who usually consults with
members of the council before discharging important executive functions. There
is a city manager for each county borough council, and for each county council
there is a county manager, who also acts as manager for the lesser local
authorities within the county. Noncounty boroughs, urban districts, and towns
have more limited duties, and, in regard to functions outside their scope, they
form part of the administrative counties in which they are situated. The local
government system is supervised by the national Department of
the Environment.

Justice
Irish law is based on common law as modified by subsequent legislation
and by the constitution. Judges are appointed by the president and normally
serve for life or until retirement. They may be removed from office only in the
case of incapacity or “stated misbehaviour” and then only by resolution of both
houses of the Oireachtas.
There are district courts and circuit courts as well as a High Court and a
Supreme Court that acts as the court of final appeal. The Supreme Court
consists of the chief justice and seven other judges. The circuit courts have
jurisdiction to try all serious offenses except murder, treason, and piracy.
Criminal trials, which take place before a jury, can be held in a circuit court or in
the central criminal court (a division of the High Court). A special criminal court
was established in 1972 with jurisdiction over cases of terrorism.

Political process
All citizens 18 years of age or older are eligible to vote. Members of both
the Seanad and the Dáil are chosen at least once every five years. The members
of the Dáil are elected in three- to five-member constituenciesby single
transferable vote, a form of proportional representation. Of the 60 members of
the Seanad, 11 are appointed by the prime minister, 6 are elected by the Irish
universities, and 43 are elected to represent various economic, vocational, and
cultural interests. Women have made significant political gains. Although during
the 1990s women won only about one-eighth of the seats in the Dáil
and constituted about one-fifth of the Seanad, the country twice elected female
presidents, Mary Robinson in 1990 and Mary McAleese in 1997. However, with
the proportion of women in the Oireachtas remaining at roughly the same levels
in the early 21st century, there were some calls for the introduction of quotas for
female representation.

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 FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY
Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance
Business Administration Department

The major political parties are Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Labour Party,
and Sinn Féin (the last of which is mostly associated with Northern
Ireland politics but has made entrees into Irish electoral politics, including seeing
its leader, Gerry Adams, elected to the Dáil in 2011). Independents also have a
significant presence in the Dáil. Fianna Fáil, a republican party, was founded
by Eamon de Valera, who opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921. The
party boycotted the Dáil until 1927 but won the general election of 1932, when de
Valera became prime minister, a position he held, with two intermissions, until
1959, when he was elected president. Fine Gael is the party of the Irish
nationalists Arthur Griffith, Michael Collins, and William Thomas Cosgrave, who
supported the treaty of 1921 and founded the Irish Free State. Cumann na
nGaedheal, forerunner of Fine Gael, held power from 1922 to 1932. After World
War II, government leadership tended to shift between Fine Gael–Labour Party
coalitions and Fianna Fáil. Fianna Fáil formed several independent (i.e.,
noncoalition) governments until the late 1980s, when it entered into an alliance
with the Progressive Democrats. Later governing coalitions were led by both
parties. During the 1990s all major parties accepted the position within the United
Kingdom of Northern Ireland. The Irish constitution was altered to acknowledge
this fact in 1999, when voters overwhelmingly endorsed the Good Friday
Agreement (Belfast Agreement) of 1998, a peace plan signed by the Irish and
British governments and nationalist (Roman Catholic) and unionist (Protestant)
political parties in Northern Ireland

III. REFERENCES
https://www.independent.ie/storyplus/9-new-digital-technologies-set-to-impact-
irish-businesses-35508938.html
https://www.commisceo-global.com/resources/country-guides/ireland-guide
https://www.britannica.com/place/Ireland/Government-and-society#ref23029

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